Modulation of the face-sensitive N170 by competition between faces and their features

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Modulation of the face-sensitive N170 by competition between faces and their features Sreekari Vogeti1* and Paul M. Corballis1* 1 The University of Auckland, New Zealand i. Background: When two or more faces are presented at the same time, they appear to ‘compete’ for representation in the visual system (R. Desimone & J. Duncan, Ann. Rev. Neurosci., 1995). Evidence for this idea comes from several studies investigating the modulation of the face-sensitive N170 component of the event-related brain potential (ERP) by competition between faces (e.g., C. Jacques & B. Rossion, J. Vis., 2006). The N170 evoked by the presentation of a face image is attenuated in amplitude when the face is flanked by other face images compared to when it is flanked by other objects or by phase-scrambled faces. Here, we explore the role that the features of the face play in competition for representation. Some studies have suggested that the internal features of the face – in particular the eye region – may be especially important in the face-sensitivity of the N170; however a majority of studies have failed to report modulations of the N170 that support this idea. ii. Methods: We employed the competitive modulation of N170 amplitude as a paradigm to explore what drives the N170 face effect. We presented face stimuli drawn from three categories of face stimuli: features intact (FI), no eye region (NER), or no internal features (NIF). These stimuli were presented flanked either by stimuli from the same category, a different category or phase-scrambled control images. iii. Results: In all conditions target faces showed greater N170 attenuation when presented in the context of ‘same category’ versus ‘different category’ flankers. Target faces competed more with ‘different category’ flankers that were more similar to the target face (i.e. FI targets competed more with NER than with NIF flankers; NIF targets competed more with NER than with FI flankers). Furthermore, N170 amplitude was more attenuated for targets that were less ‘face like’ (i.e. NIF had the lowest N170 amplitude and FI had the greatest amplitude). iv. Discussion: This graded modulation of N170 suggests that the ‘face effect’ may be driven more by holistic face processing rather than exclusively by the eye region. Keywords: N170, Face-processing, event-related potentials (ERPs), faces, features Conference: ACNS-2013 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference, Clayton, Melbourne, Australia, 28 Nov - 1 Dec, 2013. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: Attention Citation: Vogeti S and Corballis PM (2013). Modulation of the face-sensitive N170 by competition between faces and their features. Conference Abstract: ACNS-2013 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2013.212.00144 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 25 Sep 2013; Published Online: 25 Nov 2013. * Correspondence: Miss. Sreekari Vogeti, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand, svog576@aucklanduni.ac.nz Dr. Paul M Corballis, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand, p.corballis@auckland.ac.nz Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Sreekari Vogeti Paul M Corballis Google Sreekari Vogeti Paul M Corballis Google Scholar Sreekari Vogeti Paul M Corballis PubMed Sreekari Vogeti Paul M Corballis Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.